My Past Has Brought a Nightmare
by Riku's Dark Vampire Girl
Summary: What started out as a simple question, suddenly involved three people into a what was supposed to be a private situation, and one is trying to deal with the nightmares brought with it. AxelxRoxas AxelxDemyx fluff. Title change could come. R
1. Chapter 1

His coat flew onto the chair of his desk as he walked in through the door. His fingers combed through his hair as he walked over to his bed. It had been a long day with a tough battle practice and work that needed to been done on his agenda. But it made him feel better that after all the work he could have some free time to himself. At least he'd get to relax with that time and do whatever he wanted. And what he wanted now was to lay back and take a breather. He slipped off his boots at the foot of his bed and stepped forward. Smiling, he jumped back and flipped onto his back as he bounced onto his bed. Feeling comfortable, he looked to the side.

He stared between the crevice in his curtains out the window. It was later than he thought, close to twilight when the sun would set. 'Sunset' he thought, 'that time of the day' he let out a sigh. The sun looked like it was reaching, trying, to hold onto the sky, but the orange and red weights were pressing it down. He turned his attention to the ceiling as he set his hands under his head. Taking a deep breath, he smiled. 'It's like the sun gives it all to let out the final performance of the day' he thought and sort of chuckled at the thought. 'For some reason, it always makes me feel good' he sighed happily. He felt like he was almost like the twilight; nothing, but almost something, something, but almost nothing. As the twilight was day, but still night, night, but still day.

He turned back to his window to see a blue morpho sitting on the windowsill, it's azure wings clashing with the bittersweet sunset. "Butterflies, the only interesting to fly in the air" he broke his silence with a tiny laugh under his breath. "But, what's it doing here? It's rare to see things like butterflies here" he sat up. He walked over to the window and pulled back the curtains. Carefully, he opened the window, hoping not to disturb the morpho.

Slowly he edged his hand towards it, his palm opened and fingers carefully spread apart. "Come here, come on, I won't hurt you" he whispered. He knew it wouldn't work, to get something so gentle to sit on the hand of something that could easily kill it, or rather, something that killed. It fluttered hesitantly, but rested on his palm. Surprised, his fingers twitched, almost about to close. It was an immense sensation by feeling how delicate and light it was, even through his gloves. To others it would be nothing, but in his mind, he had a life, a being, resting in his hand. The way it fluttered its wings was almost as if to say, "I trust you. You won't hurt me" to let him relax. He beamed, feeling a warmth build up in his chest as he laid his head on his free hand.

"What're you doing?" a voice asked from behind. Roxas jumped at the sound and hit his head on the window frame above him as he turned around. He didn't expect someone to sneak up on him and was almost embarrassed that they might've seen what he was doing. "Nothing, just enjoying the fresh air" he smiled nervously, glancing back at his hand to make sure the butterfly was still there. It slowly waved its wings as if to say "I'm okay. I'm right here" to him. "Most people usually step all the way outside to get air, got it memorized?" Axel leaned against his doorway. "Well, I'm not like _most_ people, Axel. I can get some fresh air right from my window" Roxas came up with a quick reply.

"Oh really?" his red haired partner laid his head against the doorway. "You know, you really should knock next time" Roxas tried to stand up firmly. "Yeah, I'll try that next time" Axel smirked as he held out his hand to the approaching butterfly. Roxas glanced back at his hand then back to the butterfly about to rest on Axel's hand.

"Don't kill it" Roxas started over to him. "Chillax, I won't. I maybe an assassin, but that doesn't mean I'm not caring either" Axel looked to his blonde haired friend. "Good" Roxas sighed in relief. "You like these things?" Axel asked as he slowly turned his hand for the butterfly to walk on. "Sort of. I used to try and catch them when I was young-" but he stopped to see his friend shooting him a glare. "N-Nevermind" Roxas turned to the side. He wasn't _him_ anymore. He wasn't the little boy that used to try and catch butterflies, the boy who had played on the beach everyday, the boy who had friends and family all around him. He was only the one who could remember a small amount of his childhood, nothing more. Just the shadow of a stranger. Nobody.

"Well, what do you think of them?" Roxas glanced to the side, but he could still feel a remainder of the glare all over him. It was hard to get that feeling off of him, especially from Axel. His glares were some of the worse, they made you feel like guilt was building up on your shoulders when you didn't even do anything. "I think, they're almost like us" Axel put two fingers together as it crawled up to the top. "Almost, like us?" Roxas raised an eyebrow. That couldn't be right. How are they like them? How _could_ they be like them? Nobodies were born to kill, to fool others and themselves with their false emotions, and pine for their lost hearts while butterflies were born to fly and fill the sky with color to their hearts content. There was no possible way they could be alike.

"Butterflies have had former lives. You know, crawling and wiggling around in trees as caterpillars, trying to make a living and survive. They lived with all sorts of problems and had all types of enemies. But then, they leave all that behind when they turn into butterflies and have to start a new life with new problems" he slowly brought his other hand together for the morpho to climb on. 'Former lives' Roxas thought deeply. "Their number one trait to ours is how they change their form when they leave their former lives. It's completely different from before and they gain new abilities, lose some of the enemies. See the similarity?" Axel looked back to Roxas. "Yeah, it makes a lot sense now that I think of it" he walked closer to him.

"Except, they keep their hearts when they change" Roxas shrugged a smile. Axel shrugged a little in a casual way. "Right. They don't lose their hearts in the process, nor are they hurt when they metamorphose. But form wise, they change completely. In shape, form, color, mind, soul, everything. Just like you and me" he started to grin. Roxas gazed at Axel's mint eyes while he watched the butterfly on his hands. They were unusually lighter today, small glints of light shining on his eyes every now and then. 'Axel' he thought, his body suddenly relaxing. 'He must like them too'

"Bet you never thought of butterflies that way did you?" Axel smirked. "Nope. Not really, but now I'll have to think of that every time I see one, with a headache to follow" Roxas chuckled, breaking his gaze. Axel responded with a chuckle as well. "Former lives" Roxas sighed and looked to the side before turning back to Axel. Now he had a question formed in his mind. He had no idea what would happen after he asked. It would be a risk just asking it. But if he didn't ask now, the question would build up on him for the rest of the day or possibly, until he forgot, but that would be hard. "Hey Axel, who were you in your former life? You've never told me before" he asked carefully, not really expecting how he would react.

Axel looked over to him in surprise, but quickly turned his head to the side, a mix of anger and sadness spread on his face. Like a flash of lightning, the glint in his eyes disappeared and his eyes darkened back to normal. 'Uh oh' Roxas sighed in his mind, knowing he shouldn't have asked. A silence filled the room and Roxas looked to the side in remorse. 'Great going, Roxas' he thought. He had no idea what would happen next, but he had a guess. "Anyways, I came up here to tell you dinner's ready" Axel quickly changed the subject. "Axel, I'm sorry if I hurt you-" "Don't be" he sharply turned around and walked out the door, the morpho retreating towards the window, as if feeling his anger.

Roxas sighed and watched the butterfly glide out the window to the sky. The way it had left was as if to say it didn't want to get into the middle of a conflict, like it knew there was tension between them. He then turned back to the door his partner stormed through. He took a step closer, stopping himself from trying to reach out, as if Axel was still standing there. He held his arm and slowly shook his head. How could he have been so selfish to not consider his friend's feelings and not just how he would react. "Axel. Everybody knows about my story. Almost everybody does, except me. But Axel, is there a reason you won't tell yours?" he whispered gently. Guilt started to build up in his mind for asking him a question he should have thought through more, to think of a reason why Axel hadn't talked about it before, what feelings he would express, though he barely showed them. The only reason why Axel wouldn't answer was probably because something terrible must've happened, scarring his soul. It was the only thing Roxas could think of. Miserably, he walked to the chair to his get his coat and went back to his bed to slip on his boots.

"Way to go" he sighed as he walked out of his room and down the hall. 'Hope he forgives me' he thought as he put his hands in his pocket, feeling like the walls were watching him. Axel came from behind a corner not far from Roxas's room. He had an idea of how Roxas felt. "Don't take it so hard, Rox. It's not like you upset me, just...brought up something I didn't need to think about" he whispered delicately. He watched him mope down the hall, feeling some of his own guilt building in himself for leaving the way he did and treating him that way over a small question. Any other answer would've been better than dashing out of a room and leaving his friend to bare most of his fault. Clutching his hands, he angrily sniffed, teleporting into a flurry of flames.


	2. No Big Deal

He set his bowl in the dishwasher, closing the door slowly. Too slowly. He was in deep thought. 'Roxas...Why did you need to ask me that? It's none of your business. None of anybody's business' Axel winced as he thought. He grabbed onto the counter top and let out a groan, one he'd been keeping for some time. His mind could no longer hold it in.

Looking to the side, he suddenly banged his hand on the counter. Axel quickly turned to notice his hand had curled into a fist while he was thinking. "What was that all about?" he slowly brought his hand up. Staring down at it, he tried hard to think why he hit the counter. What was it about? Anger? Sorrow? Or possibly...Hatred, while he was thinking of Roxas. Roxas was his best friend and the only one who would look up to him. He didn't want it to be hatred, especially towards him.

"Axel?" a voice called. Axel jumped back a bit, his right hand slipping into the sink filled with utensils. "Don't do that!" he angrily glared at them. "I'm sorry, I just came in here to get some wine" they walked over to one of the cabinets. "Nice way of coming in, Zexion" Axel sniffed.

"You seemed kind of lost in thought there. I called your name a couple of times, but when that didn't work, I sort of raised my voice" Zexion picked through some of the glasses. "Lost" Axel whispered. "I'm sorry if I disturbed your thinking" Zexion, with his glass in hand, walked over to the wine cooler. "What were you thinking about anyway?" he asked. Axel looked up in surprise, but quickly shot a look of neglect to his face as he turned to the side. "None of your business" he said in his casual type of tone."Alright then" Zexion shrugged as he put one of the wines back in the cooler. "It'd be best if you head to bed, we have battle practice tomorrow and some well needed rest would be nic-" but he stopped mid sentence. Axel slowly stood back up from his slumped position.

Zexion closed his eyes and slowly tilted his head up. Axel knew what he was doing, it was no surprise. He always did this when he caught the scent of something. Whether it be darkness, light, wine, anything. He caught its scent. But what could he be catching now that could be a threat? He brought his head back down and looked over to Axel. "What?" Axel shrugged. "You're bleeding" he answered. "Bleeding?" Axel examined himself until he looked back into the sink.

His hand had caught onto a knife, blood was slipping onto it. Once he saw it, he felt the sting surge from his hand up to his arm. "Right, thanks" he quickly drew his hand away and put his mouth to the wound, angrily sucking and licking at the blood. Without another word, he quickly rushed out the door.

Roxas sat quietly at the dining room table, arms crossed on it with his head resting between them. Looking towards Axel's seat he sighed. 'Number VIII, Axel. Number VIII, Axel' he kept thinking as he looked at the Greek symbol for eight on the head of Axel's chair. He shook his head and looked to the side. Axel hadn't said anything during dinner while everybody else had their conversations. He only ate his food slowly and glanced to the side every now and then, not bothering to look at anybody, even him. Especially him.

"You okay?" a voice called from behind. "Peachy" Roxas mumbled. "Then why are you still here?" they asked. "I'm just thinking, Demyx" he answered, getting up from his slumped position. "Really now?" Demyx took a seat next to him. Roxas didn't answer, only leaned back in his chair. "What're you thinking about?" he asked, trying to get him to talk. "It's nothing. I just...I don't want to...Axel" Roxas confessed. "What about him?" Demyx leaned to the towards him.

"Haven't you ever wondered who Axel was before he got turned into a Nobody? What his name was, what he did, how he died, any of that?" he turned to him. Demyx crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "Actually, I sort of did when I joined. I wondered about mostly everybody, but he caught my mind the most" he shrugged. Roxas sort of tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Why his if you wondered about everybody else as well?" he asked. "Well, I could figure out the first seven members because they worked with Xemnas and started the Organization. I could find out their names by rearranging them when I wrote them down and I found out their pasts by asking them. Asking the other four about their lives wouldn't be very interesting, so I was left with Saix and Axel " he finished.

"Did you ever ask them who they were?" Roxas looked up to him. Demyx closed his eyes and nodded his head. "What did they say?" Roxas leaned forward to him, anxious now. He could have the answer to Axel's past, to all the questions he wanted to ask. Maybe asking Demyx for the answer was the smart thing to do. "Saix told me I'd find out eventually, but I can't believe that. And Axel..." he stopped. "What?" Roxas leaned forward more. Demyx let out a sigh and opened his eyes. "Why the hell are you getting in everybody's business?" he shouted, startling Roxas. "Why does it matter to you anyway? My life isn't any of your business! My life is _my_ life! So why don't you, just take your snooping ass out of my face!" he finishes. Roxas trembled in fear with a chill shooting up his spine.

"Sorry, but that's what he said to me before he slammed the door in my face. Luckily that was before we became the good friends we are now" he gave Roxas a little soft smile. "He was seriously like that?" Roxas gasped, his heart still in top speed. "Yeah, and I have never asked him a personal question like that since. I know that if I ask him again, it'll probably be even worse than the last time. It'd be best if you did the same" he looked down to Roxas.

"But, I still want to know more about him" he stood up. "Here's some advice, don't ask him again if you already have" Demyx started to get up. "What would he do a second time?" Roxas's heart wouldn't stop overbeating. "I'm seeing two possibilities if you go back to him. In one world, I see you getting a door slammed in your face. In the other, I see you getting hurt, and not by words" Demyx closed his eyes, taking out a sitar pick out of his pocket. That was his favorite pick, he always used it when he played his sitar. He'd take it out and twirl it any time he was in a tense situation.

"He'd really do that?" Roxas felt his heart suddenly sink. "It might happen. Roxas, you have got to remember that Axel was born as a Nobody Assassain, a highly skilled fighter. He maybe our friend, but there are times when he might accidently hurt us when he doesn't mean to. When something's about his past, he can be unpredictable. It's best to take him carefully at a time so they're no hard feelings" Demyx explained quickly. "But...Why would he get all worked up about a small question like that?" Roxas started to raise his voice, but not loud enough for the others to hear. "What happened in your past, Roxas? How did you die? What was your name?" Demyx glared to him. Roxas gasped, but looked to the side. "I don't know. I can't remember" he held his head, feeling his throat choke. "See, not a whole lot of people like to answer to others about their past, not even assassains" Demyx put a hand on his friend's shoulder. 'Yeah...Assassain' Roxas blinked slowly, crossing his arms and falling back into his chair. 'So there's no way to get the answer straight up' he thought, glancing back at Axel's chair.

Demyx turned around, picking up his plate and Roxas's on his turn. "Try the library" he hinted. "What?" Roxas turned to him. "The Organization archives on the computer, the Nobody Chronicles, the Book of the Heart, the Birth by Death book, Xemnas, any of those and probably more" Demyx glanced back at his partner. "I could really get information from all that?" Roxas asked, anxiety started to build up in him. "Don't get your hopes up, you'll never know what you'll get" Demyx started for the kitchen. "Thanks, Demyx" Roxas stood from his chair. "Oh, and Roxas" Demyx turned back to him. "Yeah?" Roxas looked to him. "Don't tell Axel any of this" he glared.

'Why're they so concerned about Axel?' a voice whispered in a figure's mind as they watched Demyx and Roxas part from around a corner. The figure crossed their arms and squinted at them, wondering about them. It was normal for them to talk about him, but worried about him, that was something rare. 'Hmph. This could be interesting' they thought, smirking to themself.

"Dammit!" he splashed his hand in the water. His hand still bled, even though he had been doing this for the past few minutes. "Ah, this is useless!" he banged his hand against the sink. He abruptly shut off the faucet, finally giving up his useless attempt. Axel sighed, looking at the cut across his palm. It still bled, the area around the gash started to swell, the sting still shooting in his arm. "Screw this!" he clutched his hand, but quickly squeezed his wrist. Clutching his hand only made the sting worse. "Crap!" he hissed through his teeth. Frustrated, he opened his medicine cabinet and took out an alcholic spray. He flipped the cap off and aimed carefully at the cut. To a wound this big, he knew how much the sting would increase after the spray. Slowly, he pushed the nozzle.

Banging his hand on the sink, he shut his eyes and let out a short cry. He thrusted his hand into the sink, into the small puddle of the undrained water while the rest of his body slowly fell to the floor. On his knees, head against the side of the sink, hanging by his stinging hand, he sighed almost in relief. "Why am I so damn pissed?" he whispered. It'd been quiet until he broke his silence. He swished the water between his fingers. "There's nothing wrong" he closed his eyes. 'Yes there is. You know there is. That question you idiot. Quit thinking that doesn't bother you' he thought, replaying the scene again in his mind, of how he dashed his best friend in possibly the rudest way. "Now that he's asked the question, I'll never stop thinking of everything answer represents" he brought his hand out of the sink.

It was completely pink and the blood was slowing, the medicine was working. The cut hadn't completely stopped bleeding, but it was healing, slowly. "Just stop thinking about it" he slowly got up and reached for the roll of bandages in his cabinet. Casually, he wrapped his hand, quickly but carefully. "Just apologize later and make it up to him" he grinned, feeling a little better. He knew it wouldn't be easy, but he'd do it. Finally, he fixed the bandage securely and turned to the stand that had his glove on it. Just because he had fixed his hand, didn't mean his glove was fixed either. It was ripped in the middle, covered in faint blood stains.

"Well, that doesn't matter" he shrugged as he picked it up. He was about to drain the sink, when he notice how the remaining water had changed crimson. "The hell?" he backed up to the wall. The cut looked a little big, but the bleeding seemed controlable to him, but he was wrong. He had no idea how much blood had mixed with the water. This threw him into a panic. Images surged through his mind; bloody medical tools, a blurry figure above him, fire circling him, feeling exhaustion build up in his body. He held his head, failing to notice he was sliding down the wall. "What's wrong with me?" he groaned, a pounding in his chest had just sped up.

He slowly tried to get up, but fell back to his knees. All of the energy had suddenly drained out of him, even though he hadn't done anything. Groaning in weakness, he shivered as he tried another attempt to reach the door. "C-cold" he slowly walked out of the bathroom, his knees wobbily supporting him. His head ached and chills covered his whole body, something he wasn't used to. Ever since he learned to control fire, he had forgotten what cold had felt like. The images flashed in his vision like lighting. He shut his eyes to stop the flashes and allowed his hand to lead him the way as it moved against the wall. "Just make it over to the bed..." he kept thinking, trying to feel his way around, but it was hard without sight. He opened his eyes again, the visions gone, but the ill symptons remained.

"Why?" he fell to the wall and groaned. He breathed heavily and closed his eyes. For the first time since becoming a Nobody, he felt weak, that he actually needed somebody's help. He had usually been able to help himself a lot and sometimes help others. But, he had never wanted anybody to help him. Of anything, he didn't want to feel helpless. "Dammit!" he shot up. Opening his eyes again, he stomped over to his bed and laid down. "What's wrong with me?" he whispered as he looked at this wounded hand. "Is it the past coming back? Or is it that I could never forget about it and its just been locked away in the back of my mind?" he sighed. He let out another sigh and closed his eyes. "Checking in early?" a voice chuckled. Axel opened his eyes again and turned to the door. There stood a man with dark hair tied into a ponytail, wearing an eyepatch. "Hey Xigbar" Axel sighed, turning his head towards the ceiling again.

"What's up with you? You don't usually get this tired this early" Xigbar leaned against the doorway. "I'm not feeling too hot. I think I just had some type of migrane or something. Think I might be sick" he shrugged, putting his hand to his head. He wasn't sure what to make of it. "Can't be much. It's rare to get something like that, but it won't kill you" Xigbar gave a small smile. "Kill?" Axel whispered, his head started to feel light. Xigbar sighed in his mind and tried to direct the conversation in a different direction. "You want me to get anything for it? Make you feel better?" he put his hands in his pockets. Axel sighed again, a shakey sigh. "Could you get me some wine? Surprise me with the flavor" he looked to him. "Sure, just be here when I get back" Xigbar shrugged as he walked out the door.

Slowly, Axel got up. 'Guess I will check in' he thought. He slowly slipped off his boots and took off his jacket, tossing it to his desk chair. Laying back down, he closed his eyes to sleep. Roxas laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling. His mind ran through everything Demyx had told him earlier, trying to make sense of it all. The books and archives were the only entrences into the past Axel was locking away. At first, he wanted to go to sleep, but the anxiety of his choices were running through his body, almost giving him a headache. 'But, there has got to be a starting way into all this' he thought, narrowing his eyes. Rushing in was a fool's way of getting answers. Suddenly, his mind went back to Demyx's other suggestion.


	3. I Want Answers

He walked slowly down the hall. 'You can do this' he thought nervously to himself. 'It's just one little question. If he can't answer it, that's okay. If he can, just think of everything you remember him saying. No big deal' he thought through his plans again and again. Roxas picked up his pace as he closed in on Xemnas's room. He was afraid to ask though. Very afraid. Xemnas was powerful and was not easy to talk to, because if one wrong thing was said, there could be trouble.

But Roxas couldn't let that get in his way, even though he was scared. He wanted to know about his friend, and wasn't going to settle down until he did. Slowing to a stop, he looked up at Xemnas's door. As he rose his hand to knock, he had no idea how much he was shaking until he looked at his hand. 'Stop it!' he held his hand and sighed in his mind. "Come in" Xemnas called, startling Roxas since he didn't even knock.

He opened the door, another hard thing to do since he'd never been in Xemnas's room. Once he stepped in, he felt his stomach all of a sudden sink, just by the feeling of being in his room. Shuddering, he stood in the doorway, looking down at his feet as if he expected them to move without him having to make them. "Evening, Roxas. Please, take a seat" Xemnas said from his desk, motioning to his bed. Roxas was barely able to nod and made his way over to the bed. 'Not a good way to start out' he thought guilt fully to himself. Finding his way through the ground, he bumped into the bed and took a seat on it, feeling even more nervous than before. Slowly, he looked up to where Xemnas was, only to see someone else sitting next to him. "E-evening, Saix" he bowed a little. Saix nodded, acknowledging him with a smile.

"I'm sorry if I interrupted something. I can leave if you want me to" he blurted out, hoping for the answer to leave. "It's okay, Roxas. We were just finishing up a conversation" Xemnas turned to him, smiling gently. With that, Roxas didn't feel as nervous, but still, butterflies were building up in his stomach as they finished their conversation. "Thank you Xemnas" Saix finally got up to leave. Roxas looked up at him longingly. 'Please don't leave. I don't want to talk with him alone' he thought, aching for Saix to stay. But he didn't. "Good night, Roxas" Saix said as he closed the door behind him. Now he was alone, with Xemnas. "Is there something you want to talk about?" Xemnas turned to him, smiling again. Roxas sat up, startled again, but recovered quickly.

"Yes, sir. I wanted to talk about Axel, Member 8" he started out. Xemnas put a hand to his lips, trying to hide his chuckle. "Roxas, you don't have to talk to me so formally. We're not in training sessions right now" he laid back in his chair. Roxas silently sighed in relief, maybe it would be easier. "Thank you sir" he smiled as well. "So you wanted to talk about Axel?" Xemnas picked up where Roxas left off. "Yes sir. I wanted to talk about...if this is okay, his past" he tried to finish his reason for coming. "Axel's past?" Xemnas echoed, setting his hands in his lap. 'Here it comes. Just stay calm' Roxas thought to himself. Xemnas crossed his arms and legs. "Why do you want to know that?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "I...I just wanted to know more about my friend. It's something that I've been wondering about for a short time, but I can't stop thinking about it" Roxas explained, his words were steady, but his heart was threatening to break out of his chest.

As Xemnas thought for a while, Roxas's grip in his lap to his coat tightened. "Calm down" Xemnas said. Roxas looked up to Xemnas staring at his hands. "I'm sorry, sir. I'm just a little nervous talking like this" he shut his eyes and turned to the side, hoping that he would go away. "There's no need to be nervous talking to me, Roxas" Xemnas put his hands on Roxas's. He looked up, not even noticing Xemnas had got up. "Thank you, sir" he nodded, feeling a little better. "So, have you asked Axel about it first?" Xemnas sat back down. Roxas immediately looked to the side, despair spreading onto his face. "Yes sir, I have" he whispered. His leader sighed, knowing what must have happened. "Axel is a special Nobody. He feels more emotion and heart than anybody else besides you" he explained trying to make him feel better. "That's why he's my friend" Roxas smiled.

"But his past..." Xemnas crossed his arms again. "Sir?" Roxas leaned forward. "Unfortunately, I don't quite remember what had happened to him. It's been a while and with all of the others born after him, it's sort of hard to remember what exactly took place" he chuckled a little. "Oh, well. Thank you sir" Roxas nodded, feeling the same with Demyx's point of not finding anything straight up. "Roxas" Xemnas stopped him from getting up. "Yes sir?" he looked to him. Xemnas turned to his desk and opened a drawer. He slipped out a piece of paper, a pen, and began to write. "Here" he handed it to Roxas when he was done. 'A list?' he looked at the titles of numbered books and archives. "Try those sources out. I've stored as much information from the others in those areas. The first few I starred because they help the most" Xemnas explained.

Glancing at the starred titles, he noticed that they were the ones Demyx had suggested. Perhaps Demyx tried going to Xemnas for information about Axel and had gotten the same list, he just remembered the starred titles. "Thank you sir" Roxas smiled, finally confident that'll he'd find something out. "Your welcome, Roxas" Xemnas smiled. "And Roxas," Xemnas stopped him at the door. "Yes sir?" Roxas turned back around. "Don't be afraid to talk to me. If you can't talk to anybody else, then you can come to me" he explained. "Okay sir, I will" Roxas nodded and walked out the door.

He looked at the selection of wine in front of him and sighed. Xigbar had so many choices to surprise Axel with, but didn't know which to give him. He didn't want to get him something he wouldn't like, but he didn't know which one that would be. "I guess I'll try this one" he shrugged, taking the bottle out of the cooler. He set it on the counter and looked in the cabinet for a glass just as Demyx walked in. "Hey Xigbar" he walked over to the food pantry. "Hey" Xigbar called back, popping open the bottle. "Taking a drink before bed? I see Zexion has an influence on some of us" Demyx took an energy bar out of the pantry. "As if. Besides, this isn't for me, it's for Axel" he screwed back on the cap. "For Axel?" Demyx raised an eyebrow. "You're usually not this generous" he looked over to him in suspicion. "Yeah, well...Axel said he wasn't feeling too good and I offered him some service, okay?" he explained. "Really, what's wrong with him?" Demyx stepped forward. Now he was worried for his friend.

"Chill out, Demyx. It's nothing big, he just said he had some type of migrane or something" Xigbar put his hands up defensively. "A migrane" Demyx sighed in relief. "He asked for some wine, so I'm getting it for him, no big deal" he put the wine back in the cooler. Demyx thought for a minute, wondering what he should do to see Axel before an answer came up. "Hey Xigbar, I can take the glass up to him for you" he offered politely. "Fine, sure" Xigbar shrugged, handing him the glass. "Thanks" Demyx nodded as he headed for the door. "Hey, Demyx" he called back. Demyx turned to him, about to walk out the door. "You didn't need to take up my service just to see him. It's not like he doesn't want to see anybody" he smiled to his partner.

"How could he get a migraine? He's never had one before" Demyx walked quickly down the hall. Axel had never complained of illness or pain, so why was this happening now? He walked up to his friend's room. The door was open, and inside Axel seemed to be sleeping calmly. At least, it seemed that way until Demyx moved closer. His breaths were shaky, he seemed to be shivering, and his face showed the expressions one would have while going through a nightmare. He set the glass down on the night stand and sat down next to him. Gently, he laid a hand on Axel's shoulder and moved it down his arm. "Axel, is there something wrong? And if there is, what? You can tell me anything, but please, just talk to me when you need to" he sighed as his hand moved up to his friend's hair.

Axel peeked open his eyes and looked up to his friend above him. "Demyx?" he groaned. Demyx quickly removed his hand, startled. "What're you doing here?" he slowly sat up, still shaking. "Xigbar told me you weren't feeling too hot" he gave a worried smile. Axel put a hand to his forehead and sighed. "I'm not" he put his hand back down. "What happened? He said you had a migraine" Demyx asked. Axel immediately turned to the side, neglect spreading across his face. "It's no big deal. So I had a little pain in my head, I'm not gonna die, Demyx" he growled. His friend looked down in discourage. He made him upset, again. "I got you the wine" he mumbled. Axel turned back to him, regret coming back to his mind. Then, he looked to the glass of cranberry wine. As quick as he looked, he fell backwards with his eyes rolling to the back of his head.

"Axel!" Demyx turned to him. "Stop it!" Axel cried, holding his head. "What's wrong?" Demyx turned to him. "Get away from me!" he growled, tightening the grip on his head. "Axel, stop!" Demyx tried to grab hold of his arms. "Just leave me alone!" he shouted, flailing his arms. "Calm down! Axel, stop!" he tried to grab his arms again. Even though he was successful, his friend started to break free, shaking the bed. "Let me go! Just let me go!" he shouted, shutting his eyes and shaking his head. "I can't let you, Axel! You have to stop!" Demyx tried to pin him down. "Get away from me! Get away!" he tried pulling free. "Axel, I need your trust if you want me to let go, but you don't have it! If you want me to stop then give me your trust!" Demyx tightened his grip, feeling something hot through his gloves on his finger tips. "It hurts! Stop it! It hurts!" Axel shook even harder.

"Give me your trust!" Demyx screamed once more. Slowly, Axel began to calm down. His head stopped shaking, his eyes slowly opened and came back to normal, he stopped resisting. "Demyx" he looked up to him. Demyx let go of his friend's arms, blood painted on the fingers of his gloves. "What just happened?" he sat up, putting his hand on his forehead again. "I'd like to know too. It's like you just had an episode" Demyx sighed. Axel gasped for breath, trying to recall what happened. Suddenly, he fell to Demyx's chest. "Just when I thought it was over" he mumbled. "What's over?" Demyx asked. "It's like my past just shot its revenge through my body" he shook his head. Demyx turned to the side, trying to avoid a conversation about his past. But this was different, Axel brought it up on his own.

"Axel, if you ever feel like talking to about it, come to me" he wrapped his arms around him. Axel narrowed his eyes, just by hearing that. "Don't feel so much pity for me, Demyx" he said in his casual tone. "I'm not feeling pity, I'm just...Just worried about you" Demyx sighed, shaking his head. "You won't need to tomorrow. I'll be fine by then" he shrugged. "How can I believe that after what just happened? You might as well have a seizure" Demyx held him closer. "Demyx for Pete sake!" he sighed in annoyance. "How long are you going to hide behind such a chilling attitude?" he snapped at him. He had never really tried to snap at Axel before, but this time he was upset that he didn't take him seriously.

Axel looked to the side, sighing out his regret. Just when he was about to look back up to him, he felt Demyx's lips pressed against his cheek. Slowly, he turned to him as Demyx lifted his lips. He didn't expect him to do that, but that didn't matter. It made him feel better. As they stared into each other's eyes, Axel gave a small smile. This gave Demyx some type of relief. "Fine, have it your way" he shook his head. "Good" Demyx carefully got up. "I'll get some rest and see how I am later, okay?" he sat up. "Okay" Demyx carefully got up. He looked to the glass on the night stand and then back to Axel. "No, it's okay. Leave it, it doesn't bother me now" Axel shook his head, reading Demyx's mind. "Are you sure?" Demyx crossed his arms.

Axel sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'll be fine" he chuckled. "Fine. I'll see you tomorrow" Demyx headed for the door. "You bet" Axel nodded. He watched as Demyx shut the door, then laid back down. Confusion rose up in his mind about his supposed "episode" and Demyx's kiss, but mostly the episode. The wine had made him go ballistic, but only because it reminded him of blood, something from his past. He turned to the side, but glanced over to the window. Standing on the outside of the windowsill was the blue morpho.

Roxas looked over the list over and over again, close to memorizing each title and archive. His heart sped up again, which was odd for him because he was only going to the Organization library, something that dispirited him every time he needed to go there. "Wait" he slowed down. 'This feels odd. Just finding out information about a person without getting it from them. It's like going into their personal space. I feel...like a criminal' he thought, looking back down at the list. He knew he wanted information, but it felt strange not getting it from Axel himself. But he knew what would happen a second time. He could see Axel's chakrams tipped with blood, sadness and anger in his eyes. "No!" he gasped, turning his head to the side. Of anything in his mind, he didn't want to think of that.

He looked out the door sized windows to the night. He could see the towers and Nobody crests, even from how high up the level was. Walking over to the windows, he could see the residential wing where they resigned. He looked to Axel's window where the light was off. Sighing, he started heading towards the library while thinking about earlier. "I hope he doesn't find out about this" he walked up to the doors of the library. After hearing a question he refused to answer, Axel was sure to do something worse if he saw him researching over him. He examined the white door and took a deep breath. He put his hands on the doors and pushed it slowly. "Axel. If I can't get the answer from you, then I'll try a different way" he closed his eyes. With his hands on the door, he walked in, leaving his regrets at the door.


	4. Sleepless Night

He couldn't sleep. It was hard to after all he had been through that day. It was hard to stop thinking about something that was about to bring three people into what was supposed to be a private situation. But what could he do? Roxas had asked him a question in which he and another person were now involved in. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt anybody, but he already had. Sighing, he sat up and looked next to his bed. Even though it was dark, he could see what was there. It was odd how the shadows made it look like their group's crest. He reached for it and brought it to his lap. He turned to his night stand and reached for what he wanted off of it. Holding it firmly, Demyx quietly began to strum his sitar.

Axel groaned as he laid in his bed. He twisted and turned in his bed as he struggled through a nightmare. Laying on his side, he held his arms and nuzzled closer to his pillow. His breathing was heavy again and he felt a little cool. "Roxas" he cried bitterly. Hearing the sound of his own voice made him wake up. His temperature came back to normal and his mind came back to reality. Panting slowly, he sat up. He had no idea how he fell asleep, only remembered the morpho sitting on the windowsill. That was confusing, but he didn't feel like thinking about it after waking up. Falling back to his pillow, he sighed and held his hand to his head. Axel couldn't sleep, his mind refused the action. It'd make him return to the nightmare he interrupted by waking up. "Damn" he sat back up and slid out of the bed.

"I am not going to be awake for battle practice" he walked over to his window. It was still night, stars ruling the sky with open clusters and what looked like white dust across a pitched black sky. He looked towards one of the towers to where another scene of stars were. It was like this every night ever since he had joined the Organization, but change was coming. Xemnas had told them that something could be there later, something the sky sometimes had. A moon, a heart shaped moon. And this one would be something they needed. He said it would come if _he _awakened. That when it came, the sky would be more beautiful to look at. The way he said it made him sound unsure, but his thoughts were that it would be something that would give them hope.

But that's not what Axel wanted, even though everybody else did. He didn't have a whole lot of hope, but he didn't need any. 'The sky looks better without it' he thought, putting his hand on the window. His reflection looked back at him and touched his hand. "Like we really need a new moon" he sighed, returning his hand to his side and walking to his bathroom.

Axel felt nervous walking into the bathroom, still thinking about earlier. He still hadn't drained the water, but he didn't want to look into the sink, fearing of what had happened earlier happening again. "I've got to get over this" his hand slipped into a fist. Ever since he was born as a Nobody, he lived without a whole lot of fear. And he did not want to let some red water get in the way of that. He sharply turned to the sink, ready for whatever would go through his head from what he saw. "Huh?" he raised an eyebrow. He walked over to it and saw that the water a very light pink, almost clear. He backed up to the wall and looked in the sink in confusion. "I could've sworn it was blood red" he gasped. Though this was surprising, it made him feel better. "Guess my mind was fooling around with me" he walked over to the sink and pushed down the lever to released the water.

Walking around his room, Axel had no idea what to do now that he was awake. His mind was too wide awake for him to go back to sleep. Battle practice was not going to be easy in a fatigue condition and the last thing he wanted was for Saix to taunt him for his weak status. "Like that bastard would be able to do it in the same condition" he sighed as he sat back down on his bed. He looked towards the clock. 2 a.m. Early in the morning. He then turned to the wine next to it. It was the same as when Demyx had placed it there. "Might as well. I don't want Demyx's visit to have been useless" he reached for it.

As he drank, he thought about Roxas. He couldn't help but think about him after all that had happened. "How do I make it up to him?" he returned the empty glass to the night stand. It wasn't going to be easy to do what he thought he could earlier in the bathroom about apologizing. He had no words in mind or any plans to even start with. Roxas was probably one of the most fragile people he ever met. Even though he was tough and stoic around everybody, whenever they were together, he'd let his real emotions and feelings out. Many of his feelings were affectionate towards him, yet he turned his back on them yesterday. "Maybe Roxas'll be cool with it if I just apologize and get him some ice cream" he looked to the side. 'You know that won't work. Quit kidding yourself' he thought as he got up. "I know" he said, slipped on his boots and walked out the door.

He walked down the hall, looking at the other member's rooms as he passed by. All of the lights were off, but of course they were off. Nobody would stay awake at this hour. Suddenly, he stopped, at Roxas' door. It was cracked open a little. 'What if I tried apologizing to him now?' he thought. Roxas, being tired at the time, would allow him to forgive him without any other words to be said. His hand reached out to the doorknob, but immediately stopped inches away. "Too easy" he turned to the side and kept walking. He wanted Roxas to hear everything when it was time to say "Sorry" to him. He wouldn't have been awake enough and just forget about it later on that day. Roxas needed to be fully awake when this would happen, just like the time when the both of them were ready to talk about their problems and each other.

Axel strolled into the kitchen, barely able to see his way around. It was dark and the only light came from a small Organization crest light on both sides of the doorway near the floor. But he didn't need them, he knew where everything was. He made his way over to the fridge and opened it, it's light almost blinding him. Reaching in, he grabbed a can of fruit punch soda and brought it out. He used his finger to punch it open, not bothered by the scratch that he made on his finger. He could've gotten a glass, but he was too tired to. As he was about to put it to his lips, something didn't feel right.

Nobodies could feel different auras of living things which signaled when they could appear and attack. This is what Axel felt. An aura with a power a little stronger than him touched his skin. Even though he stood calmly, a chill shot up his spine and a feeling that somebody was watching showered over him. "Isn't it a bit late to be getting a drink?" a smooth voice asked. Axel sighed and calmed down. "What do you want, Saix?" he turned around to him. Saix leaned against the doorway, his arms crossed as if he was expecting him. "I heard you walking down the hall and wondered what you were doing up so late" he smirked. Axel absolutely hated it when he did that.

"Look, I can't sleep so I got something to drink, okay?" Axel closed the fridge door, making both of their eyes glow. The aura could only be seen in the dark through their eyes with the color of their iris. "Really? You usually sleep like a dog" Saix chuckled. Axel clutched his hands, almost squeezing the soda out of the can, but then calmed down. Usually he'd defend himself in a situation like this with a sly comment or insulting whoever back, but he was in no mood and was too tired. "Just leave me alone, Saix" he groaned. Saix laid his head against the doorway, both amused and surprised. "You're not going to start a usual fight?" he asked. "Maybe later, when I'm more awake" Axel started heading toward him to leave. Saix used his arm to block his way out the door.

"Something must be wrong. You've avoided a conflict, which is unusual since you fight with anybody who insults you. That can't be from fatigue" he raised an eyebrow. "I have a lot on my mind right now" Axel sighed. Saix looked at him for a while, not sure to believe him. Finally, he put his arm down. "Fine. I believe you and I won't provoke you to tell me" he crossed his arms again. "Thanks" Axel nodded as he passed him by. "Thanks? You've never said that before either" Saix followed him. Axel stiffened up and looked back at him. "Don't get used to it. This won't always happen" he sniffed and looked ahead. "Hmph, if I talk to you at this hour it will" Saix chuckled. "Why are you following me anyways?" he whispered as they entered the residential area, trying not wake anybody up. "Just making sure you go back to sleep" Saix crossed his arms. "You'll be up for a while then" Axel snickered.

"Then I'll just make sure you get to your room" Saix followed closer behind him. 'It's like he's on night patrol' Axel groaned in his mind. He opened his door, walked in, and looked behind him to see Saix close the door. "Great" he rolled his eyes. He had nothing else to do to make himself fall asleep. Then, he looked to the bathroom. He could take a shower, cleanse himself of the stress weighing on his mind. Or better yet, he could wash his hair and shower at the same time. That would make him feel better than before. He looked to the clock again. 2:15 a.m. Not a whole lot of time had passed. "Fine" he said to himself.

Axel walked over to his closet and opened it. When he turned into a Nobody, he didn't have a whole lot to wear, but he made some quick adjustments. They were all allowed to wear something around the castle, but whenever battle practice or an assignment was given, they had to wear their coats. "Guess I'll choose this one" he reached and took out a white short sleeved shirt along with some black pants. He laid them out on his bed. "Anything is better than just sitting around" he sighed and walked into the bathroom.

"This book has got to be around here somewhere" Roxas looked at the list. He sat on a small stack of books he had searched through with other stacks around him that had already been there. Roxas had been searching for the past few hours for the books. The books in the library were in alphabetical order, but they were on different and higher shelves. Xemnas had collected some many books that he had restarted the alphabetical order again in some areas. What was worse was that Roxas had no idea what the books on the list looked like or what shelf they were on. "I should've known this wasn't going to be easy" he sighed, getting up. He stumbled back, losing his balance.

Roxas fell onto some books which immediately slipped under his weight after being stacked crookedly. "Crap" he groaned in pain. Reaching for two lower stacks, he slowly pulled himself up. "Ouch, that hurt" he winced has he rubbed his lower back. "This is definitely going to hurt even more later" he chuckled to himself. Suddenly, he shot up straight. 'Later' he gasped in his mind. He had lost track of what time it was. He had battle practice in what he thought was "tomorrow." Roxas quickly looked around for a clock, just to let him know how long he had been in there for. He got up and carefully stepped around the books both on the floor and stacked, heading for the computers. "Don't tell me that I've been in here a long time" he groaned, slowing down to one. It read 2:25 in the corner of the screen, but he only needed to see the hour to close his eyes and groan. 'I should've kept track of the time' he pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked back to where he had started to look and sighed. "Guess I'll finish this later" he shook his head. It came to him now that it was a bad idea to start looking late at night.

He left the library and walked back to his room, tired and weak. Sitting down so long had rushed his blood down to his feet, making it hard to walk. His head also felt a little light and his neck a little stiff. "Just need some rest" he sighed as he came upon the residential tower. 'I should've just teleported here' he thought, but he knew that was a bad idea. Nobodies could sense the darkness in teleporting from anybody, even when asleep. If anybody sensed his teleportation, he'd be in a bad position. 'It's not fair that the towers are so far apart' he came up to his room. Pushing the door open, he took a few final steps to his bed and collapsed. He kicked off his boots and sat up to take off and toss his coat to his desk. With the last of his strength, he got up once more, undid the sheets, and got into bed. As he laid against the pillow, he heard something. He sat up a little bit and looked to the wall behind, wondering why he was hearing running water.


	5. My Nightmare

Water. Just feeling it on his hand was a serene feeling. He held his hand under the shower head until he felt the water change from cold to hot. "Ready now" he shook his hand of the water. Axel turned around and headed for the bathroom closet. He pulled out a towel, shampoo, and body wash. He set them on the rim of the tub and began to undress. Leaving his clothes on the floor, he stepped in. "This definitely feels good" Axel smiled as he felt the water running down his body. It was like the water was washing all the stress, the doubt, the regrets, all of it, down the drain. He reached for the shampoo and pushed the cap open. Axel lathered the jelly-like liquid into his hair until he could feel the light foam seeping through his fingers. It was a little tough to get the shampoo through, with his hair spikey and held up, but he always managed. Done with his hair for the moment, he reached for the body wash.

As he lathered the body wash on himself, he thought back to the dream he had. He didn't want to think of it at first, upset that it would disrupt his one time of serenity. But what else could he think about? Axel could've thought about the plans he had for later that day or tomorrow, but his mind kept thinking back to it, since it involved Roxas. "All I want, is just a moment of peace. Just one little moment" he closed his eyes and laid his head against the wall.

A fork in the road, the divider of fate. In that fork, sat a pile of broken metal, probably from the ruin of a city. It stood before him, daring him to choose a path. He looked down one road, then the other, confusing him. Unlike most roads, these paths didn't contain a dark sinister look or a bright welcoming light. Nor did it contain a forest for the dark road or a meadow for the light. Without that he had no way of telling which road was most traveled by the flat grass that had been stepped on by many, nor the least traveled road into the forest where dead leaves would cover the entire path, unmoved. No, he only had dim lights flickering at the end of both paths and two dirt roads, both of them having many footsteps on them. "Where am I?" he whispered to himself, trying to decide which path to take. "Which should I take?" he sighed, crossing his arms. Having no idea what lie ahead of the paths made it hard to choose and made him cautious as well. But standing there and staring at his choices wouldn't help him. He uncrossed his arms and sighed, annoyed. "Right" he started walking onto the right path.

The road he chose confused him even more. He hadn't expected what he saw to be on this road. Ruins of more metal and what looked like poorly built houses settled around him as he walked. The sky looked dark with a brown like smog flowing around, making the brightest of lights look dim. "What's with this place?" he asked himself as he shoved his hands into his pockets. He gasped and looked down at where he stuck his hands. Surprised, he found he was wearing a blue business suit, barely kept, even though his shirt wasn't tucked in and his coat was unbuttoned. "What the hell?" he examined himself over. "What are you doing?" a voice called. He looked up to see a person waving from what looked like the only stable looking shelter. Stepping back, he raised an eyebrow, having no idea what was going on. "Do I know him?" he stepped forward. He wasn't sure, but he wanted to find out. Suddenly, the person took off down the rest of the road. "Hey, wait!" he called, but that wouldn't stop them. "Dammit" he growled and ran off after them.

For some reason, it was easy to follow this man. He ran through all sorts of obstacles like debris on the road, pedestrians, and through the smog that came low enough to the ground to blind them. But that's not what he was focusing on, he was too focused on the stranger to notice. 'What is this guy trying to do?' he thought as he jumped over a pile of debris. It almost looked like he had ran half a mile, yet he still wasn't tired. But then again, that's what dreams could do without you noticing. Just when he caught up with him, the man turned a corner around a building. He followed behind, slowing to a stop, but sighed in annoyance to see that the stranger wasn't there and that there was more road ahead of him. "Screw this!" he leaned against the building to catch his breath, sliding to the ground. Even though he was dreaming, he had had enough of this. 'There's no point in this if all he's going to do is run from me' he thought, anger building up from his chest to his mind. Cursing under his breath, he got up abruptly and turned back the other way. Suddenly, he felt something touch his shoulder. "Hey" a voice called. Turning around, he jumped back and prepared to fight whoever startled him.

"Calm down. I thought you were prepared for that" the stranger chuckled. He tried to get a good look at him, but could only see that he was wearing casual clothes as it got darker from the neck up, in shadow. "What's wrong? You usually don't give up a chase so easily? Are you feeling okay?" they asked, tilting their head in amusement. He stared at him with his guard still up, but was confused on the inside. 'Do I know this guy? Who is he for that matter?' he asked himself. The stranger chuckled and started heading behind the building. "Wait a sec!" he followed him. "You know, you shouldn't have came out dressed like that, people'll know who you are" the stranger took a seat on a small pile of metal debris. 'And just who am I?' he thought. The stranger took out a small notebook and began to flip through it. The dreamer tried to take small peeks at what was in it, but tried not to look desperate or interested by looking somewhere else or closing his eyes for a little bit.

"Here we are" he stopped flipping through his book at a page. He showed the book to him and pointed to the picture. "This man, R. He's next in line" he explained. "R?" he looked up to the stranger. Why had he called him that? He was Axel when he was awake and still was now. Who was R? "Who's this guy again?" he asked. "We don't know exactly. He runs around in a cloak and mingles around public areas. He has been seen walking around the HQ which has us worried" the stranger explained. "Us? Wait. Who's us?" Axel demanded. The man turned to him and stared at him in confusion. "Don't act so stupid, you know who" he explained, turning back to his book. This gave Axel nothing, only more confusion. "Anyways, we think this man is a threat. Eliminate him" the man finished. "Eliminate? You mean kill him?" Axel looked to him. The man nodded and put the book away. "He seems to stay around an isolated district. Track him and kill him there" he explained.

"Wait, why am I killing him?" Axel got up and looked down to him. This job was starting to make sense, but the identities didn't. This man wanted to him to kill somebody in the name of group, accusing the man as a threat. But who did he work for and who was the man? "He could be a threat to our group. It'd be best to get him before he gets us" the stranger answered. Axel sighed and looked to the side before closing his eyes and nodded. "Good. Meet me back at the HQ, I'll be waiting for the report" he got up and started walking away. "Wait a sec! Where's HQ? And who's us?" Axel called. The man turned back and crossed his arms. "You can ask questions later, just do your mission!" he sighed, obviously annoyed. He turned back around and headed for a helicopter parked behind some more debris. "Dammit, don't walk away!" Axel shouted, but the man had already started up the helicopter and didn't hear him over the propellers. "Shit!" he turned around and kicked a crumpled up piece of metal. He had no idea who was giving him orders, who this victim was, and where to go. "The hell" he groaned as he headed to nowhere in particular.

Suddenly, he ended up in what looked like the district the stranger described, but he only walked for a few minutes. He looked around at the similar scene he had seen before. The conclusion he came to was that the "city" he was in was a giant slum and the debris was made into the small houses and huts that laid before him. As he walked in, people all around looked up to him. Looking at them, he could see that they looked dirty, with the raggiest of clothes, messiest of hair, with eyes that had no glint of hope in them. Once he got further into the district, he could see some huts with shops in them, but they were small and sold a few things. "Where is he?" he stopped in the middle of a bazaar. The victim was supposed to be here, but he hadn't seen anybody with his description anywhere. It felt like he had been looking for hours, but only minutes had passed. He didn't care who he had to kill or who he was working for, he just wanted to get it over with and leave. "Forget this" he sighed and turned around, bumping into someone.

"Sorry" he looked to them. "Sorry" the person said in a kind voice, which made Axel raise an eyebrow. He had heard the other people in this town talk and they all sounded stingy and had hoarse voices, but this boy had a clear and friendly tone. It wasn't until the boy had passed, that Axel noticed that he was wearing a cloak, a hood over his head. He hadn't noticed it since the boy was only tall up to his shoulder, but further away, he could see it. This was the guy he was looking for, but he felt that he was innocent. He may have looked and acted like a threat in public to his group, but the way his voice sounded was too gentle for a criminal. But he had a job to do, and even awake, Axel never hesitated with an order. "Hey!" he turned back around. The boy turned around, only to see Axel reaching into his pocket for something, which made him immediately take off. "Why do they always run?" he sighed as he took a gun out of his pocket, something he didn't realize he had, but didn't bother to question it.

This guy was swifter than the stranger he had met before. He was faster since he was young, and his body was flexible enough to move between tight buildings. At several points, Axel had to find a different way around a building too slim for him to run through, but this got him more lost than he was thinking about this dream. The kid obviously knew the area better than he did and knew what he was doing when he took risks. As he was chased down an alley, the kid quickly kicked down any garbage cans in his way, letting what ever junk and waste pour out to at least slow Axel down, if not stop him. "Is that the best you can do?" Axel chuckled as he jumped over the litter. It was clear now to the kid that with Axel gaining up on him that he was determined not to let him get away, but he had to try. He eventually led Axel to another isolated slum where they acquired more room to run. 'This kid just doesn't stop' Axel sighed in his mind as he saw the kid heading for what looked like a crowbar on the ground. "Oh no you don't!" Axel stopped briefly, not even thinking about what he was about to do, which set his heart back a few beats as he threw his gun.

Just as he had planned, the gun slid under the boy's feet to the front of him. The kid failed to notice the handgun in front of him, and with his fast pace, slipped on it and fell forwards, his shoes flicking the gun back towards Axel. "Perfect" he picked it up and started heading over to the kid. "You should just give up now and save yourself the pain" he said as the kid began to get up, coughing with each movement. "Not...Not just yet" he huffed as he looked back at Axel before taking off again. "Again?" Axel called, but the kid seemed to have gotten ahead of him somehow and turned a corner. "Damn him!" Axel started to run again, but noticed something as he came up to the crobar, something that glinted. Glass. It was half of a vodka bottle, blood sliding down the edges. He looked forward to find that his gun and glass had given him a trail of luck that would be easy to follow. "He's mine now" he smirked, following the trail.

It wasn't hard to find the boy since he had lost blood from his fall. Axel wandered around the slum labyrinth until he came to a dead end. There, lying beneath an old flickering hanging street light, was the boy. "Why, isn't this convenient? A dead end being right here, to signal the dead end of your life" Axel walked over to him. He could hear the boy's breathing as he got closer with each step. Fast, panicky, small cries of his voice mixing in with each gasp of breath. "You know, if you hadn't ran off the first time and tried to get that crowbar, we could've had this done and over with" he kicked a can out of his way. Natural. The way he acted, the way he playfully walked slowly, his smirk. This was all natural for Axel. This was just another assassination mission to him.

"P-please...Don't hurt...Hurt me" the kid tried to catch his breath. "Sorry, but it's an order of mine. You're posing as a threat to my organization and need to be killed" Axel came only feet away from him. "Organization? Why? Why are you...Going to kill me?" the kid started to tremble. "Didn't you get it? You're a threat. Even if you didn't do anything, my organization wants you gone" Axel sighed. "What organiza-wait. You...You're him...aren't you?" the kid gasped. "Him?" Axel stopped and crossed his arms. He knew the kid was trying to delay his death by a few minutes, but he wanted to hear what he had to say. The boy had nowhere to go and seemed too weak to do anything to run or defend himself. "I've heard about you. A man who...was accepted by...with blood red hair, and...a good throwing arm. The guy you don't want to be chased by. And works for..." the boy's words were broken up and some other words were missing, but he tried his best with his weak breaths to shoot his panic into his words as Axel started coming at him again. Now Axel could see more of the boy's wardrobe. All he wore was the cloak, some old shoes, and some ripped up pants, nothing more.

"What? Who am I? What do I do?" he chuckled as he stopped at the boy. He wanted to hear the boy's final words before he was executed. "That's what I'd like to know, Axel" the boy's voice suddenly became normal, his words connected. "What?" Axel gasped. His voice sounded familiar and braver than before. "I want to know" he looked up to him. Axel leaned down and pulled down the boy's hood. "Roxas" Axel gasped to see his friend looking him straight in the eye. Immediately, Axel got up and backed up from him. This was wrong, it felt wrong. The boy he had been chasing had really been his best friend, someone he could, no, would never kill. Suddenly, he felt something wrong with his right arm. It was tingling and within seconds, he couldn't feel the tingling or anything, at all. "What the hell?" he looked down at it. Trying to move his arm on his own, was almost like not having any right arm all. 'What's happening to me?' he thought, but he was shocked as it came to him.

His arm began to move slowly on its own, the grip on the gun tightened as it lifted. "Stop it!" he tried grabbing his arm with his left hand. It was understandable now that his mind had sent the order to kill to his arm since he tried to refuse. He tried reaching for the gun, the main threat of his controlled arm. Unfortunately, his right hand wasn't willing to give it up and still rose "Roxas run!" Axel looked over to him. It was clear now that nothing could stop it. Yet Roxas didn't move an inch, only sat there, looking at his friend in shock with fast steady breaths. His killer could now see why he wouldn't move. The glass from before had made a several scratches on his chest. This also made him look him over again, only to see that Roxas' neck was pink down to his chest. The crowbar. Both had knocked the wind out of him and what he needed to recover his breath to get up.

Axel tried once more to get his arm under control and hold it down, but his nightmare got worse as his left hand would pass through his arm. "No!" he cried. Now his arm was pointing straight at Roxas and his finger was moving to the trigger. "For heaven's sake, run Roxas!" he shut his eyes and cried out. Roxas reacted this time, just as he pulled the trigger. The shot rang in his ears, but he didn't hear anything drop. He felt relief on him, as he heard nothing drop to the ground. "He got away. He got awa-" but he was cut short as he heard a body fall to the ground. A tear ran down his cheek.

He opened his eyes to the porcelain floor his hands were touching. Axel had failed to realize that he had fallen to his knees since he was deep in thought. Shaking his head, he slowly got up as the hot water rained on his skin, still trying to wash away his doubts. But how he got down to the floor wasn't what he was concerned about. Looking to his right arm, he moved it forward, backward, and to the side to make sure that he had control of it and only he could. "Heh, weird" he winced at the thought. "At least it wasn't real. Only a nightmare could be that horrifying, but that's what it's going to stay" he gave a small, but weak smile. Stepping under the shower head, he tilted his head up and the water washed off any remaining body wash and shampoo. A few minutes, he turned off the water.

After putting away his body wash and shampoo, he walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. It felt good to be cleansed of any dirt that he felt physically and mentally on him. Dried off in both hair and body, he opened a small door on the wall next to the bathroom, and dropped his towels down the chute. He put on some lotion and got dressed as quickly as he could. Wasting time not sleeping was not what he was wanted anymore. Once he was done, he laid back down in the bed and looked to the clock. 2:35 A.M. "That doesn't matter a whole lot" he sighed and closed his eyes. "I'll have a hard time dealing with today" he laid to the side.


	6. Knockout in the Arena

"Dammit" he winced. He knew this was coming, but had failed to stop it. Fatigue. Weakness. Drowsiness. All of it was from not getting the sleep he needed for the day. It was lucky for him he was still able to stand up. He covered his mouth to hide a yawn; he didn't want anybody to see it. His eyelids felt heavy and his head kept falling forward. 'I've got to stay awake' he tried to keep his eyes from closing, but tiredness was getting the better of him. "Roxas!" a voice boomed. Roxas's eyes immediately shot open, and he looked around, startled. But he didn't need to look so much, the person was standing right next to him.

"Sorry, Saix" he looked up to him. "Are you okay? You seemed to be nodding off" Saix turned to him. "Yeah, I'm fine" he nodded and scratched the back of his neck nervously. Roxas' lips may have agreed with it, but his mind and body refused his answer. "Are you sure? This isn't a whole lot like you" Saix crossed his arms. "I guess yesterday's practice wore me out so much that I wanted to sleep more" he thought up a quick excuse. It wasn't a very good excuse, but it was the only thing he could think up.

The whole team stood in a line, not in order by rank, just casually. Roxas stood between Saix and Xigbar, while Axel stood between Marluxia and Luxord, Demyx between Marluxia and Larxene. Roxas took a small peek at them to see they didn't look like they normally did. They both looked a little tired, but he could guess that they had gotten more sleep than he did. Staying up till 2:30 and waking up at 7:00 was not easy. He mostly looked at Axel, still trying to stay awake. He hadn't seen him since dinner last night and he wanted to say something to him. At least that would help their relationship better while he researched over him. "Good morning, Organization XIII" a voice greeted. Roxas got back into his place, standing straight up as Xemnas walked into the arena. As he walked in, he pulled down his hood and shook his hair free.

"I thought we'd start doing morning battle practices a little bit more. We'll start doing them two days a week instead of one. You'd have a lot more time to rest after morning practices" he stopped in front of the middle of the line, a few feet in front of Roxas. This made him a little bit nervous, but Roxas felt more tired than nervous. What he didn't want Xemnas to see was the state that he was in. But there was no possible way that he was the only one sleepy. "I'm sorry to wake you all at this time, but it's important to be alert-" but he was cut off by a yawn. Roxas was startled at the sound, he thought it was him and he was about to cover his mouth when he realized he didn't do it. He looked down the line to see Axel closing his mouth and holding his head.

"Sorry, go on" he closed his eyes. Xemnas raised an eyebrow as he looked at Axel, who wasn't even concerned if their leader saw him like that. But for Xemnas, it was something new to see Axel tired when there was battle practice. "Are you alright?" he asked. "Yeah, just a little sleepy" Axel rubbed his temples. Roxas didn't want Xemnas to go further about Axel's state, he had an idea it was partly his fault.

"Um, sir, why're we even doing morning practices?" Roxas raised his hand and looked over to him. Xemnas nodded to Axel and then turned his attention to Roxas. "We do this because it's important to be alert and ready whenever a mission may come up. Whether it be at night or in the morning, you have to be ready and able to gather your power up quickly when needed. That's why" he explained as he walked over to him. "Oh, thank you sir" Roxas nodded. This relieved him and maybe Axel of the stress Xemnas had on them. He felt more awake now, but he couldn't say the same for Axel.

When he first started out in the Organization, Roxas would always look at Axel in wonder. He had mistaken Axel's playfulness and power in battle for the bloodlust and enjoyment of it all; it seemed expressed on his face. But, where was it now? He looked over to Demyx to see if he had any reaction. At first, he just stared straight ahead, but then looked to Roxas and smiled. Roxas sighed in relief in his mind. "Alright, lets start out with some warm-ups" Xemnas announced.

Roxas walked around the arena, looking for an isolated spot for him to focus his power while everybody else warmed-up their own way. He kept walking until he found a place he was comfortable with and got ready to start. Lifting his hands in front of him, he tilted his head up and closed his eyes. His mind created a dark world in which he had to use his energy to build the light. Focusing his power, his mind made small balls of light, coming slowly together bit by bit. On the outside, his body emitted his aura, small gusts of wind swirling around his feet. He could feel his coat lifting and rippling at his power. In the palms of his hands, he could feel heat building up and a soft substance forming. While all of this was happening, he failed to notice he was lifting off the ground. "Don't you get powered up pretty fast?" a voice called. Roxas opened his eyes and fell to the ground, forgetting to hold his focus. "At least I had it going" he smiled up to Demyx, who held out a hand. "So, how're you doing?" he asked as his friend got up. "Good, you could say" Roxas shrugged. "Still thinking about last night?" he sighed, knowing what would happen next.

"Let me warm-up with you" he put his hands out to the side, his way of focusing. Roxas nodded, and they both sat down to warm-up. "So, what happened?" Demyx asked as they meditated. "I did go to Xemnas like you said I should" Roxas started out. "He was helpful wasn't he?" Demyx smiled. "Yeah, he gave me a list of things to check out" Roxas nodded. "There were a few books on there that I suggested weren't there?" his partner peeked open an eye. "Then you know what happened the rest of the night since you've been through this episode before" Roxas chuckled. "Actually, I'd like to hear what you did" Demyx closed his eye as water swirled around his body. Roxas sighed, his energy rising. "I, kinda went straight to the library for the answers. But...Well, I should've kept track of the time" he shrugged embarrassedly, feeling his energy rise with his emotion.

"Should've waited until today to try it" Demyx shook his head. "The anxiety would've kept me awake" Roxas gained control of his energy again. "Still, I had the patience to hold it in" Demyx chuckled. "Yeah, well, I still have it. I don't even know where the books are or what they look like" Roxas sighed. "That's exactly the same problem I had. It took me days to find them" his friend made small drops of water float by lifting his hands. "Can you help a guy out and tell me what they look like?" Roxas peeked open an eye. Demyx shook his head and peeked open an eye as well. "I looked for those books a while ago. I don't even remember what they looked like, just the titles because I still have the list in my desk" he explained, causing Roxas to sigh. It was bad enough being clueless in a library, but even worse to not get an idea of what he was looking for from the guy who searched for the same thing. 'Ask Xemnas' Demyx's voice shot through Roxas's mind. He looked over to his friend who gave him a soft smile. Roxas blinked a little, but smiled as well and returned to finishing their warm-up.

"I hope you all warmed-up for who're you're up against. Just because we woke up early, doesn't mean that your warm-up should've been the same as your tired mood" Xemnas stepped in front of the lined up group again. Roxas felt more energetic now and ready to take on whoever he was paired up with. "I'll start the first pairing off with Xaldin and Luxord over there, Larxene and Marluxia there, Demyx and Xigbar there, Axel and Roxas over there, and Vexen and Lexaeus there. Zexion, Saix, and I will take turns battling each other in various ways" Xemnas paired and directed the groups to an area in the arena to practice. The hairs on the back of Roxas's neck rose at the sound of him and Axel being paired up. That was something he wasn't ready for. 'What if he's still mad at me? Has he gotten over it? What if he's still thinking about-' "Sir, can I be assigned someone else?" Axel's voice broke his thoughts.

Xemnas turned to him with a surprised look on his face. "You usually want to be paired up with Roxas most of the time. Are you sure you're okay?" he crossed his arms. "Course I am. I just, don't want to be paired up with him today" Axel scratched the back of his head. Roxas's heart dropped to his stomach. He had never heard Axel say those words, which completely struck his chest. "I'll try to see if anybody is willing to switch" Xemnas nodded and walked over to one of the pairs. "Axel" Roxas's voice croaked. His throat felt tight, almost like when he was about to cry. He started forward behind Axel, who crossed his arms and closed his eyes. Gathering up all the strength he had, he stopped behind him and put his arms to his side. Nobody should see him cry with his type of attitude; Axel had taught him that. "You, going to try and fight Saix?" Roxas tried to make his question sound sly. "Sure, why not?" Axel sighed, not looking back to his friend. Roxas sighed in defeat. This wasn't easy for him.

"Sorry abo-" "I already told you not to be" Axel cut him off. "But, you're acting this way because of me aren't you?" Roxas stomped his foot forward. The tightness in his throat was still there, but his anger was making its way up into his chest. Axel didn't repsond, just sighed again as Xemnas came back. "Don't give me that" Roxas mumbled under his breath. "Sorry Axel, nobody wants to switch today" Xemnas shrugged. "Fine, no big deal. Lets go" Axel headed over to their assigned spot. "Right" Roxas sighed and followed behind him. He mostly watched the ground, feeling Axel's glare on him even though he didn't take even the smallest glance at him. Suddenly, he bumped into his back. Even though he bumped into him, Roxas didn't recoil like others would. The heat on his coat with Axel's soft skin underneath met his face, giving him a moment of warmth. 'He's so warm' Roxas closed his eyes. His arms began to rise slowly for his waist. "Roxas!" Axel shouted. He immediately got up and stepped back, embarrassed of what happened.

Axel gave him a look of confusion once he turned around. Roxas held the back of his neck and sighed, hoping nobody saw that. "Sorry, you're warm" he said in a rush. "You'll be feeling something more intense with my flames" Axel rolled his eyes and spread apart from him. Lifting his arms to the side, Axel summoned his chakrams as Roxas summoned the Oathkeeper in his right hand, Oblivion in his left. "Just because I'm tired, doesn't mean I'll go easy on you. Got it memorized?" Axel twirled his weapons on his hand. "Neither will I" Roxas spread his legs apart. Making the first move, Axel dashed at him with his right chakram out in front of him. Roxas slid to the side as it came by his head. He quickly turned around only to see Axel coming at him again.

Swiftly, Roxas put his Keys together and warped further away. Axel slid to a stop and jumped back to flip his chakrams to another position. Roxas used this time to quickly to throw Oblivion sideways towards Axel's head. Unfortunately, Axel was able to hit it to the side before the blade came close to his head. His opponent watched as his blade flung to the side and struck itself into the ground.

Roxas ran towards it, only to jump at the chakram covered in flames blocking his way. 'The hell! Where did that come from?' Roxas thought as he fell backwards. He looked to the side to see Axel running at him. He gasped and reached for his blade, not worrying about the weapon that blocked it. Turning around was a mistake for him, as Roxas met Axel's fist in his side. "Ah!" he backed up. "My chakrams are worse than my fists. Get real!" Axel picked up his other chakram. "You asked for it!" Roxas jumped back and came at him. He swung his blades left and right, trying to hit him once. But it was hard to try and hit Axel, his moves were swift and he would switch his footing while jumping backwards depending on where the swings were coming from. "Burn!" he put his arms up. Roxas suddenly felt an intense heat cover his body. His body stunned and dropped him to his knees. He gasped for air at the feel of the heat burning his skin and his heart pounding to add even more heat. But he was used to this, Axel had done this times before.

"How about this!" Roxas jumped back and dashed at him. Swinging his blades fiercely, he was able to land several different hits on Axel before he was blasted away. "That's right, playtime's over" Axel sighed as he tossed his chakrams in the air and brushed himself off, catching his weapons after he was done. "Has it ever been playtime?" Roxas smiled, getting ready for another attack. Axel closed his eyes and shrugged, before vanishing. Roxas stepped back and looked around for where ever his partner could pop up, mostly looking behind himself. Trying to calm down, he closed his eyes and focused his aura to try to find Axel's. At first, nothing, but then he felt Axel's aura touch him at the back of his mind. Opening his eyes, Roxas turned around to feel something sharp cut into his side and his cheek. "Got you!" Roxas jumped into the air. Focusing on flight, he held himself in the air, calling away his Keyblades and upon his light element.

"Light divide!" he called, feeling the energy dividing around the area. Their group crests rose and circled around them, threatening to harm anyone who came near. Calling up Oblivion, he transported the surrounding area into a world with a black sun and dark clouds swirling around. "Light...Disperse!" he spun the Oblivion, creating and shooting orbs of light at Axel. With the orbs blinding his target, he couldn't see whether he had gotten him or not, but felt an aura weakening. "Hah!" he smiled and shot off one last sphere. Suddenly, he saw Axel fly right up to him, making eye contact as he was brought up to him. Within that moment, everything slowed down.

Roxas could see everything in Axel's mint green eyes; anger, sorrow, fake calmness, with a mixture of other emotions he couldn't read. All empty. Where was the playfulness or the bloodlust he had mistaken him to have? A pain shot through his body as Roxas lost his focus of flight energy and plummeted to the ground. Even though he knew he hadn't had lifted himself too high, he felt like he was falling off a cliff.

Yet, the impact was worse. His body slammed against the ground, knocking the last bit of the air in him out. Pain shot up his back and spread out to the rest of his body. The back of his head slammed against the ground, lucky for him it wasn't concrete. The energy he held onto returned to his body, which he used to try to wake up his senses, but the pain prevented that. 'Come on! Get up!' he screamed in his mind, but his vision was blacking out. Letting out a breath, he closed his eyes. Axel landed not to far from him and walked over. "We're not done yet, I hope you know. We still got 15 more minutes" he looked down to him as he walked over. Roxas didn't respond. "Don't play dead" Axel stood next to him. Roxas still didn't respond. "Roxas, are you okay?" Axel bent down, the pounding in his chest returning. He put a hand to Roxas's chest to feel a slow heartbeat. "Roxas! Wake up!" he picked him up and shook him a little. Roxas's head fell to the side, which Axel quickly brought up to his chest.

"Roxas, answer me!" he tried to shake him a little again. Roxas let out a groan and laid closer to Axel's chest. "Axel...You're so warm" he started through breathless words. "But...why're you being so cold?" he breathed before falling unconcious again. "What's going on over here?" a voice asked. Axel looked up to see Xigbar standing over him with Demyx not to far behind. "It's Roxas. He just blacked out!" he looked back down to him. "Oh shit" Demyx came down to him. "Xemnas!" Xigbar called before running off to get him. The scene was attracting a crowd now. Pair by pair, the others began to slowly walk over, making Axel a little nervous. "Yeesh. What'd you do Axel?" Larxene walked in front of him. "Is he going to be okay?" Zexion leaned down. "This looks bad" Marluxia sighed. Demyx looked to Axel to see him holding Roxas tightly and glaring at anybody who came near. He had to do something to take the pressure off.

"Hey! Back off guys! Give them some breathing room" Demyx got up and walked up to the others to back them up. The more he did this, the more stress Axel let off. "Enough!" Xemnas's voice boomed. Everybody looked to Xemnas making his way over with Xigbar not too far behind. The group made a path to Axel as he walked over, his expression very calm. Axel turned around to him and looked up as Xemnas came down to him. "What happened?" he asked. Axel looked to the side and calmed down, now he had the stress Xemnas on him. "I just..." he started out, but stopped short, not knowing what else to say. Xemnas opened his arms to him, asking for Roxas. Slowly, Axel passed him into Xemnas's arms and watched him get up to leave with Roxas. But he didn't watch him go, just looked back down to the grass. "Yeesh, Axel. I didn't know you had it in you to beat your best friend" Larxene laughed after making sure Xemnas was gone. Axel glared at her and narrowed his eyes, focusing his energy.

"Ah! You bastard!" she screamed as she tried to put out the fire at the end of her hair. "Don't think I won't hurt a girl either" he gave her a false smirk. She stormed off, cursing loudly. "I hope this has taught you to be more careful fighting Roxas. He may be a strong fighter, but he's still a child" Saix walked to the side of him. "Like I don't know that already" Axel mumbled. "Okay everybody, get back to practice. Nothing left to see here" Xigbar directed, the rest of the group except him, Axel, and Demyx staying. "Are you going to be okay?" Demyx put his hand out to his friend. Axel got up without it and dusted himself off. "Yeah, of course" he nodded. "Why don't you take a short break and join up with us when you're ready, okay?" Xigbar pointed to the bench. "Okay, thanks" Axel smiled weakly and headed to the bench.

"I can't believe what I just did" he sighed. "I thought for sure I didn't hit him that hard" he slowed down to the bench. He brought up his hands and looked down to them, only to freeze at what was there. Blood was painted on his gloves, still wet. Taking a step back shot a series of scenes from his dream through his mind, especially the parts about Roxas and the broken drink glass with blood on it. He held his head with one hand and onto the wall with the other. "I didn't mean to do that Roxas! I didn't mean to" he groaned as he slowly fell to his knees. Finally, he fell the ground and closed his eyes, failing to notice somebody calling his name. "Axel!" Demyx ran over with Xigbar, Zexion, and Saix not far behind. "He just passed out as well, he'll be fine" Saix picked him up. "But why?" Xigbar asked. "Maybe that's why" Zexion pointed to the blood stains on the wall.


	7. Recovery Trouble

Laying back in his chair, he closed his eyes and began to strum the strings. His sitar laid in his crossed leg and vibrated his empty shell. "Picking up the pieces and throwing them out. The world closing in while I scream and shout. These are the things that move the sea; broken pieces of my melody" he sang, his voice as smooth as the ocean. Opening his pale green eyes, he looked over to the bed next to him. The patient next to him was motionless except for his chest ascending and descending. He reached over to him and felt the pulse on his wrist. The blood pumping in his veins vibrated through the instrumentalist's thumb and through the rest of his hand. "Nice beat you got there" Demyx leaned the chair against the wall and began to strum again.

"How's our little buddy doing?" a voice called from the door. A corridor opened and a man with black and grey hair walked in, carrying a tray of cereal, toast, and orange juice.

"Fine, he hasn't woken up yet, but he will soon" Demyx looked to the patient was Xigbar walked over to the bed and set the tray down next to the bed. He pulled out a chair and was just about to sit down when a noise of awakening was heard. The patient tightened his eyes before opening them to blink, then all the way.

"Well, look who just woke up?" Demyx smiled as he sat up straight. He looked around the room as he slowly regained his senses and memory, starting to find out where he was.

"Anybody home?" Xigbar chuckled as he looked over him. "Where am I? What happened?" he asked as he looked at the two above him.

"You must've had quite a knockout" Xigbar stood up and put his hands on his hips. "You're in the infirmary. Xemnas carried you here and got you set to start recovery" Demyx answered, "Do you remember anything before that?"

The blond haired boy looked to the side and closed his eyes. His memory was together, but now he had to think right after waking up.

"I got up this morning, warmed up, and then Axel and I...Axel!" he shot up, but felt a jolt of pain shoot through his chest and laid against the pillow again. "Easy! You just got taken off the battle field two hours ago, but you're not fully healed" the man with the eyepatch sat down again. "You really should just stay calm. Checkboard says you got third-degree burns, several cuts and gashes, a badly hit head, and probably a crack in the chest. Take a look" Demyx removed the sheets from Roxas' chest. Even though it was wrapped up, he could clearly see a burn on his torso in the shape of chakram.

Destiny's Key sighed and tried to calm himself down.

"What happened to Axel?" he slightly closed his eyes.

"Shortly after you blacked out, Axel collapsed himself" Demyx sat back in the chair and picked up his sitar again.

"What? Where is he? Is he gonna be okay?" Roxas sat up again. Xigbar put a finger to his chest and lightly pushed him back down again.

"Stress doesn't help anybody. He's in the next room sleeping; he's gonna be fine" the second in command gave Roxas a comforting smile. "Are you sure?" Roxas persisted.

He wanted to know for sure his best friend was going to be okay, an absolute answer.

"Well, I wouldn't be sure he's gonna be okay with Xemnas" Demyx put a hand to his lips. "What?" Roxas kept himself down to the bed. "Have some breakfast" Xigbar put the tray on bed with a nervous smile. "Xigbar!" the Keyblade bearer shot up at him, making him jump a little. "Axel was called by Xemnas for a private meeting" Demyx sighed as he shook his head.

"Private?" Roxas looked down at his cereal and stirred it with the spoon.

"I doubt anything Xemnas will do will kill him. Now," Xigbar put the chair back into the desk, "you have the rest of the day for recovery. I'll be bringing you your meals and hopefully some of us will be keeping you company" he pointed at Roxas with both index fingers.

"Right, thanks" Roxas nodded, still discouraged. "Then get well little buddy" Xigbar walked to the door, opening a corridor of darkness. The boy sighed and began to eat his breakfast. Demyx set his sitar to the side and stood up. "Do you want me to?" he asked. Roxas nodded. He knew what he wanted him to do.

* * *

'Mmh, my head' he groaned in his mind. He lay in a pitchblack world, completely empty with no light to seek. 'Where the hell am I? Did I just die?' he asked himself as he laid still. His body felt numb and he could feel no movement anywhere, but he could feel something soft settled on most of his body.

'Okay, so I'm not dead. Must be just asleep' he sighed. With this realization he tried to move his body so he could wake up, but his body felt so numb he couldn't really tell where his body was. As a try, he let a groan out of his lips.

"Finally awake? You lush" a voice called.

Finally feeling the numb diminish, he slowly opened his eyes and brought his vision into focus. Slowly, he used his arms to push himself into sitting up. He was in one of the infirmary rooms of the castle. Leaning against the wall in front of him was a blue haired man with an 'X' shaped scar on his face, crossing his arms as he looked over to the patient in the bed.

"Oh, it's you. I sorta liked the idea I had about me being dead if I new I was going to wake up to you" Axel smirked as he set his arm on his knee. The man let out a growl, an inhuman growl that barely sent a chill down Axel's spine.

"That's no way to treat the man who carried you here" he stood up straight and uncrossed his arms.

Just then, the door opened and Demyx walked in.

"Thanks for watching him Saix" Demyx nodded to the man who nodded in response.

"How ya feeling?" the nocturne walked over to his friend's bedside.

"I don't know. How am I supposed to be feeling?" Axel laid back in his bed, obviously discouraged. Demyx sighed and grabbed the chair from the nearby desk.

"Then tell me what's wrong. What happened to you back there?" he leaned forward, elbows on knees and hands together under his chin. "Happened where?" Axel turned to him. "The arena" his friend answered.

The Flame Dancer looked down for a minute and retraced his steps. "Roxas!" he shot up.

"Calm down, he's in the next room. He's recoverying so he'll be fine" Demyx gave him some relief. "Oh...Good" Axel laid back and sighed in relief. "I don't get you. What happened to you out there. It's like you shutdown" the dirty blond sat up straight.

The patient looked to the side and slowly began to wince and shake his head.

"I didn't think I hit him that hard! I thought did everything the way I normally did!" he slammed his fists down on his legs. "That's what you did?" Demyx widen his eyes a little. Axel sighed again.

"He was in the air, and I shot him down" he simply explained with a hint of guilt.

A short silence arose between them. Demyx knew there was more to his answer then he was letting on. He had to ask, he needed to know.

"Axel, what else is wrong?" he put his hand on his friend's shoulder. The friend looked at it and laid his left hand on it. "This dream has gotten out of hand" he mumbled under his breath.

Even though it was a mumble, Demyx could make out what he said.

"What dream?" he leaned closer. Axel gave short shakes of his head.

"All I could see was the image of that boy laying under the lamppost. The blood on the the broken bottle and the wounds on his chest" he stopped to notice his hand squeezing Demyx's. "Gosh" he removed his hand from his friend's.

"Guess those thoughts screwed with your mind huh?" the sitar player asked.

"Yeah. I couldn't stop thinking about it. Kept me up almost half the night" Axel glanced at him.

"Well...It's just a dream isn't it? It's nothing real or gonna come true. Am I right?" Demyx smiled as he removed his hand from Axel's shoulder. He could sense a light of encouragement burst through as he saw realization spread across Axel's face.

"Yeah, it is a dream" Axel sat up and blinked.

"And what happens in dreams, stays in dreams. Like you'd ever hurt your best friend that much on purpose" Demyx sat back and smirked.

"Hell no, I wouldn't!" he shot a smile. "That's it. That's the Axel I know" Demyx stood up, "Roxas is in the next room. He's awake and he wouldn't stop talking about you. Wanna go give him a visit?" Demyx thumbed the door.

"You must not know me very well to ask a question like that" Axel smirked as he got up and was about to leave with Demyx when a claymore blocked his way.

"What the hell, Saix?" Axel turned to the blue haired man with a hint of anger in his tone.

"Don't get so happy yet, Xemnas wanted to see you as soon as you woke up" Saix informed him, ending his sentence with a smirk. He loved bringing Axel down whenever he was at a high point. Demyx turned to Axel to see how he'd react, but all he saw was a look of surprise and fear cover his face.

* * *

The pounding in his skipped several beats with each movement he made, reminding him of his fate to torment his mind. He stepped into the bathroom, his steps hasty and barely steady.

"You should go get cleaned up before you see Xemnas. Your appearance is an absolute disgrace" Saix had told him minutes before.

'Of course you would say that. You're such a suckup' Axel thought as he sighed with a small smirk on his face. The smirk faded, and he looked into the mirror to the mess he was. His hair was was messier and wilder than before, like a bad case of bedhead. Scratches and grass stains were spread across his face every here and there. He leaned closer to the looking glass to see something dark on his hair, something red, but darker than the natural crimson locks.

He immediately shot down to his hands. His gloves were caked with blood from holding Roxas' injured body. The blood must've came from his head and possibly anywhere else he had cut him. A sick feeling rose to Axel's throat and he felt the urge to vomit. The fact that he had his best friend's blood on his hands was absolutely sickening. His urge almost rose to his mouth when a small chuckle from the door brought it back down.

"Have we finally gotten a good look at ourselves?" Saix asked, a smirk on his lips as he leaned against the door.

"You really should knock, I could've been naked for all you know" Axel felt well enough to make a comeback. Saix shrugged it off with another chuckle.

"Incase you haven't noticed, your coat was an absolute mess, so we got you a new one; it's hanging in the room. And you might as well get rid of those gloves too" Saix crossed his arms and walked away once he was finished. The Flame Dancer looked back down at in the mirror and sighed. "Guess I wasted my time washing my hair" he turned on the faucet.

Moments later, Axel walked out of the infirmary room and down the hall, zipping up his jacket. Even though he needed to teleport to get to the meeting room, he wanted to stall a little time before going to see the superior. He pulled a glove out his coat pockets and slipped them on, flexing his fingers to make sure they fit. At first, he looked at his right hand, then brought up his left hand. The image of his friend's blood painted on his hands still flashed in his mind. His hands were clean, but his conscience knew they weren't that clean.

"I'm sorry Roxas" he whispered, shaking his head with closed eyes. A circle of darkness surrounded him before shooting up and shrouding him in an egg of darkness. The cover clearing away, he was on his way to the meeting room.

His back laid against the back of something hard, his rear on top of something softer than that. Legs hung freely and arms rested on the chair's armrest with his hand grasping onto the ends. Sighing, he opened his eyes and looked up to the white ceiling. Finally here. Whoopie.

"You called?" he closed his eyes again in a wish that he wasn't there. No answer was given. He opened his eyes again and looked up to his Superior's high and mighty chair. Empty. Around the rooms, the rest of the chairs were also empty. Well of course they were, but sometimes Xemnas would take their seats when they weren't around.

"Be late then" he sighed in a bit of relaxation and crossed his legs as he slumped into his chair. Axel still was nervous even though his leader wasn't present. Just when would he get there anyway? Why wasn't he there in the first place? Front and present whenever you are called is what Xemnas said to him on his first day.

Immediately after he finished his thought, a shroud of darkness appeared in the highest chair in the room a few seats away from him. "Sorry I'm late. I had a few things to take care of" the deep smooth voice apologized from above.

"You should be ashamed. Here you are being a leader and yet you're late to your own personal meeting" Axel smirked as he set his elbow on the armrest of his seat and leaned towards him. Xemnas let out a small laugh, he could take a joke despite how serious the upcoming conversation would be. Axel straightened up in his chair in preparation, setting his chin into the palm of his hand. "So, now what?"

"I wanted to talk to you about this whole Roxas situation" Xemnas laid his arms onto armrests. The redhead winced, he knew this was going to come up. Who would've guessed?

"What about it?" he mumbled as he looked up to the silver haired man.

"Are you alright?" Xemnas suddenly asked with a hint of concern in his tone.

Axel blinked in confusion and surprised as he shifted a little bit in nervousment. Where did that come from? "Yeah, course I am. Why do you ask?" he asked.

Xemnas sighed, "You've been acting strange for almost the entire day. You seemed tired, you didn't want to be paired up with Roxas, and then you forcefully knock your own partner out in a hard attack" he listed. "You can't say that's normal, or in your case semi-normal, about you."

The Flurry of Dancing gave a quick small smile; he liked the way he used semi-normal. He was nowhere close in the area of normal. Yet he sighed and shifted a little bit in his chair. "No, I guess not" he shook his head.

"I guess what I'm going for is what exactly is making you act this way? This isn't how you regularly are" the Superior gestured toward him with his hand.

"What? You don't like it when I don't bother you to be paired with Roxas?" he gave a weak smirk up to him. His leader narrowed his eyes. "It's ridiculous, you won't want to hear it" Axel looked to the side in embarrassment. If it was ridiculous to him, then surely it would be ridiculous to Xemnas.

"Number 8" Xemnas sighed as he sat back in the chair.

"It's this dream okay!" Axel shot out at him. He finally got serious with him.

"A dream?" a silver eyebrow raised in confusion.

Axel pouted in his chair as he looked away from him. "Yes, a dream. It's been bothering me for a while and I guess it finally got in my way today."

A chuckle stung in his ears as he could hear Xemnas laugh from above. He growled at the sound and turned away, this is how most of the members were when he was trying to be serious.

"It's not funny! If you're just keep laughing your ass off, I'm outta here!" he clutched the ends of the armrests, hearing small cracking noise.

Xemnas quickly calmed down and recomposed himself, "I'm sorry Number 8, but the thought that a dream is making you act like this is quite amusing" he smiled down to the lower officer.

"Jackass" Axel mumbled loud enough for Xemnas to hear. That was the purpose.

"Just how is this dream getting in your way Number 8?" Xemnas grew serious after hearing the snide remark.

Axel sighed, finally getting back on track. "It twisted my mind. Got in the way while I was fighting" he explained in a quiet voice.

"Twisted your mind? Just how bad was this dream?" Xemnas leaned toward him in question.

"Bad enough that you end up killing your own friend" Axel answered immediately after he asked.

A short silence came in between them before Xemnas finally spoke, "I see" he laid back in his chair.

"Explain a lot?" Axel mumbled as he set his elbow up and his chin in the palm of his hand.

"Tell me about the fight" his leader relaxed in his chair and crossed his legs to make himself comfortable. Axel glared up at him, slightly offended at how settled he looked when while he was in the hot seat.

"Don't look so comfortable. This isn't another "This is How My Day Went" story. This is serious!" he growled up to him.

"Sorry; this is just how I am when I have to listen to a story. I'm just preparing myself" Xemnas apologized from above.

"Just don't grab a bag of popcorn like this is a show" the redhead sighed.

"I promise I won't" the Superior gave a small smile as he sat back.

Axel shot another glare, but kept himself calm and lowered his head a little, "So it started like this."

* * *

(A/N): Bleh! This took me a while to make and I've had it stored for some time now. This chapter would've been updated earlier, but I believe I accidentally deleted it earlier. So I had to remake it and I tried to keep most of the dialog and stuff from the deleted chapter in this one. In a way it's similar, but not quite what I had made before. Next chapter should be updated soon. Sorry if my proofreading is bad and things are weird.


	8. So This Is How It Happened

'What's taking him so long?' he crossed his arms.

Waiting wasn't one of Axel's fortes, especially when he's tired. He kept his eyes opened as much as he could, but he could feel them weighing down to close.

"Don't you look tired?" a voice chuckled. Axel put his fingers to his temples and rubbed as hard as he could.

"Shut up, Luxord!" he groaned, not in the mood to deal with him.

"At least I know when to go to sleep. Early to bed, early to rise-" "Won't make Luxord shut the hell up!" Axel finished for him, giving him a tired smirk.

Luxord sniffed and crossed his arms. "That's what I'd expect from a person who isn't even mature" he glared at him.

"And this is coming from a man who's talking to someone higher ranked them him" Axel said slyly. "Hmph. You're a nuisance I swear" Luxord growled.

Axel smiled tiredly. Luxord hated it when people attacked his pride. "Nice comeback there, Axel" a voice from Axel's left complimented. "Just got to know what to say, Marluxia" Axel turned to him and smiled.

Just then, somebody stepped in through the arena door.

"That was a bad night" Axel could hear Roxas mumble. He stepped in with his coat still unzipped, exposing his bare chest. Even though Roxas didn't work out as much, he still had abs and a few muscles. Axel's chest tightened and he felt his stomach twist as Roxas walked over to stand next to Saix. As he stopped next to Saix, Axel watched him zip up the coat, marking the areas with his eyes where the injuries were on him in his dream.

"No" he whispered and held his head, looking straight before Roxas glanced his way. 'Stop thinking about it!' he thought, putting his hands down and trying to act natural. After a few minutes, Xemnas walked in.

"Meditating, great" Axel strutted over to a corner in the back of the arena. He wanted to be as far away from the rest as possible, not wanting anybody to disturb him. Lifting his arms as he walked, he began to pull his power together.

"Fire, awaken" he called, as he slowed down. Small sparks flowed around his feet until they burst into flames.

"Fire of darkness flow" he called, putting his hands to his chest and slowly parting them, fire bursting from his hands. "Arise!" he shot his arms up.

A wall of fire burst up from the ground and surrounded the small area he was in. He sat down and closed his eyes. The heat touched his skin and ran through his hair as he crossed his arms. His mind raced as he tried to meditate his power, trying to interfere with his meditating.

"It was just a stupid dream. Get over it Axel" he mumbled to himself. The flames around him flared wildly for a bit. The thought of everything he had imagined last night, of his friend dying in front of him, seemed absurd and impossible. "It'll never happen, so get over it!" he growled.

His mind averted to something else about the dream. The man in the suit, the organization he was talking about, the talk about a possible headquarters, it all seemed familiar. Too familiar.

"R" he whispered slowly opened his eyes. "My name is R" he looked down at his hands. For a minute, it looked like his gloves had disappeared and he felt the feeling of the suit he wore in his dream. But this wasn't him, not him at all.

"No! I'm Axel! Number 8 in the Organization! I'm not whoever this R is at all! Got it memorized?" he shouted out, losing control of his focus. The flames shout out in every direction as he got out.

"And that's the only person I need to be" he narrowed his eyes.

The fire burst away in an explosion and the area was cleared. Axel looked around to see a circle of bare ground around the spot of grass he had sat down in. He looked to the wall to see a burnt circle like shape on the wall in front of him. He sniffed and turned away. "Guess I'm ready for practice" he started heading over to the bench.

Waiting patiently, Axel stood in line as Xemnas started pairing everybody up and sending them to a part of the area to practice.

'What's taking so long?' he rolled his eyes, 'Just can't do this in alphabetical order can we?' he thought.

He looked over to Roxas, trying not to look interested in him. He seemed a bit more energetic than before when he first walked in. A small smile was on his lips and his body was more awake. As he looked, he felt a small hint of nervousness making its way up his chest. He was too happy, too ready to fight to be brought down by his attitude.

"Axel and Roxas over there" Xemnas called. Axel shook his head to wake up. He had guessed this was coming, knew this was coming. But he wasn't going to have it, any of it.

"Sir, can I be assigned someone else?" Axel asked as the last few groups left. Xemnas looked to him, startled. "You usually want to to be paired up with Roxas most of the time. Are you sure you're okay?" he asked. "Course I am. I just don't want to be paired up with him today" he answered casually. His eyes glanced to Roxas and within that second, he saw something breaking.

Roxas' hair hid his eyes, but Axel could see they were in shock. A sickening pain grew in his stomach as he could sense Roxas's body choking up, but he ignored it and closed his eyes. He just wasn't up for it today, not yet. His ears perked up as he heard Roxas stepping closer to him.

"You, going to try and fight Saix?" he could hear the choking in Roxas voice. "Sure, why not?" Axel sighed at Roxas's attempt to sound sly because of his hurtful question earlier. A sigh rung in his ears.

"Sorry abo-" "I told you not to be" Axel cut him off. He could tell what he was about to say right when he said "Sorry."

"But, you're acting this way because of me aren't you?" Roxas stomped his foot forward.

'Okay, so I am! It's not your fault though! It's mine! I should get over myself! Is that what you want to hear?' Axel screamed in his mind, but he couldn't say anything to his friend, not like that. Instead he let it out in a shakey sigh as Xemnas walked back.

They walked to their assigned spot to practice, keeping a small distance from each other.

'Just need to get this over with, so I can get my head straight later' Axel thought as he kept his head up. It would be a little tough fighting him, but Roxas would be better scratched up than dead. Suddenly, he felt something soft bump into his back. He looked behind himself to find Roxas laying his head against his back. Roxas' spiky hair hid only a bit of his closed eyes. From his view, Axel saw it as if he was watching him sleep; how he looked so innocent with his angel like face. A small groan let him know Roxas was enjoying his warmth. Axel watched him for a few moments, feeling less nervous, by the second. But he had some practicing to do, and Roxas had to be awake for it.

"Roxas!" he shouted.

While they practiced, Axel's mind was completely blank; he only saw Roxas' moves and his as he fought. He wasn't concentrating on the fight, only on Roxas. The only time when he would wake up was if he or Roxas was hit, then he'd talk. Otherwise, it was like he was on autopilot while his mind wandered off. Minutes more into the fight, Roxas got more intense with his attacks. Axel vanished into the unforeseeable void around the area, teleporting around to see if Roxas could catch him. Teleporting behind him, Axel darted his arm forward, his chakram cutting Roxas' side and making him visible again. A faint blur of words entered Axel's mind; his guess from Roxas. Suddenly, the world turned into an area dark clouds and a black sun. Oblivion. Axel only faintly woke up. He looked around to see where he was, but he wasn't as panicked or worried about the next attack.

"Light spheres...Go!" Roxas voice became clear.

Axel looked up to see several orbs of light shooting towards him. Preparing his chakrams, he jumped up and began to glide. With each sphere coming towards him, Axel hit to the side, the heat of the light increasing his chakrams' own heat as his mind fell away. Finally, he reached Roxas.

Time almost froze between them. As they looked into each others eyes, Axel could see surprise and ignorance in Roxas's eyes, the feelings of battle. But he could tell that Roxas could see nothing close to the feelings of battle in his eyes. Automatically, Axel slammed him down with his chakram, his autopilot still on. He fell after him, ready to land on his feet and continue fighting as the world disappeared. Yet when he landed, Roxas didn't stir.

"We're not done yet, I hope you know. We still got 15 more minutes" Axel walked over to him. No response.

"Don't play dead" he stopped next to him. Roxas would sometimes joke in battle by pretending he was dead to do another attack. But this wasn't a joke.

"Roxas, are you okay?" Axel bent down to him.

Putting a hand to Roxas' chest, he felt a slow heartbeat. He brought him up to his chest and shook him a little.

"Roxas! Wake up!" he called. Calling him again only woke him up for a short moment.

"Axel...You're so warm. But...why're you being so cold?" Roxas groaned through breathless words. The visions of Roxas in his dream began to run through his mind once more as Axel held him, not noticing Xigbar and Demyx running over.

* * *

"That's all I remember. The rest of the time was just almost everybody blaming Roxas' injuries on me" Axel finished his story, crossing his arms and laying back in his chair.

"And the passing out?" Xemnas asked.

"Probably from all the stress I had to take" he answered with a shrug.

"I see" his leader laid back in his chair, setting his arms on the ones of his chair.

"So what's the punishment? Exile? Transformation into a Dusk? My powers taken away?" Axel guessed.

His mind told him even though he didn't mean to hurt Roxas, he needed a punishment for the way he's been acting.

"I don't see why you want those punishments. Roxas is still alive isn't he? I can see from your point of view that you'd want those as punishments" Xemnas brushed his hair back.

"What? You're letting me off the hook?" Axel smiled. He knew it wasn't true, but it was a bit of his own fun.

"No, I'm not. But I am going to give you a few things to do so that you can get your mind off this dream" Xemnas started.

Axel looked up at him, his expression changing to a bit of fear.

"Think of it as punishment to keep you away from Roxas for a while" Xemnas said as a smiled formed on his lips.

* * *

Roxas finished his breakfast and set his tray on the nightstand next to him. He looked down and fumbled with his fingers not completely sure what to do next. The rest of his day was for recovery and he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to get into the library. What he wondered the most was what punishment Xemnas would give Axel.

"Why did I have to be such a wimp in battle?" he laid back and set his hands on his sides. His guess was that he needed to improve his strength to keep from getting KO'ed so much, and improve defense to keep him from taking so many hits.

"Hey, Mr. Keyblade" a voice came from the door. Roxas shut his eyes and sat up, just knowing what to expect.

"Hi, Larxene" he said in an obviously annoyed tone.

"That's not a very nice tone to use to the person who wants to check up on you" she walked over from the door, a smirk on her lips.

"I'm just not in the mood" he looked up to her as she stood next to her bed.

"Really now? Is it because of Axel? Xemnas might be giving him a huge punishment" she flipped back her hair.

"I know" Roxas looked to the side.

"Don't look so down. The least Xemnas can do is kick him around the floor" she twisted a small group of her hair.

"That's not funny!" Roxas shot up from the bed, glaring at her, but immediately sitting back down as the pain returned.

"Ah, ah, ah! You're not supposed to be getting up at all today since you're still recovering" she waved a finger.

Roxas held his torso and turned on his side, groaning in pain.

"But I can see why you're mad. Can't take a joke can you?" Larxene sat down on the chair next to the bed.

"That was so funny I forgot to laugh" he growled through his dry throat.

"Relax, he'll probably get something small. But still..." she held her chin and looked to the side in a sarcastic manner. "Shut up, bitch!" Roxas screamed with the last effort of gathered breath in his lungs.

She looked down to him and smirked again.

"We'll isn't that rude even for you to say? Still can't take a joke?" she put her hand down. Roxas' expression never changed. She frowned and sniffed.

"As if I'm not worried! I was hoping to ask him out, but now he'll be stuck with a punishment that'll last who knows how long! He lit my hair on fire cause you passed out!" she shot out of the chair. "And this is all your fault! You just had to be one of the weakest people who can't even take a small hit like that!" she slapped him.

Roxas felt the sting on his cheek and tears drop from his eyes.

"So you're saying this is all my fault!" he yelled as she turned around and headed for the door.

"Hell yes! You should be talking to Xemnas too!" she called back.

"Just for being knocked out!" he felt the anger in his chest rising again.

"Not just that, but for making him act the way he is!" she looked over her shoulder. "I don't know what you did, but you should watch yourself!" she looked forward again.

"Get out!" Roxas yelled. "I'm leaving anyways, but not cause you told me to!" she opened up and slammed the door on her way out.

Roxas stood staring at the door, putting a hand to his stinging cheek. Slowly, he laid back down and let more tears fall.

"It is my fault. I am making him feel this way" he squeezed the sheets with his free hand. "But, I didn't mean to" his throat choked. Leaning forward, he held his knees and laid his head into them, failing to notice the blue morpho outside the window.

* * *

A/N: Oh crap. This one has been sitting in my storage thing for a looong time. Ho huum. I need to work on this story some more. Sorry for the late update, my few fellow reviewers. You can get your torches and angry mobs together if you have already. jk...please?


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